


Streetwalker

by Baamon5evr



Series: Glee Angst Meme Prompt Fills [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Abusive Parents, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Forced Prostitution, Human Trafficking, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2014-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-14 22:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2205924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baamon5evr/pseuds/Baamon5evr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Okay, so maybe her first thoughts to yet another woman in her mid to late 30s, early 40s looking at her boyfriend, Puck, was over the top, but then he said what he said and she didn't think, she just did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Streetwalker

**Author's Note:**

> [Prompt from Glee Angst Meme]
> 
> Prompt: Mercedes and Puck are out somewhere when one of his 'cougars' walks by. Puck makes a casual joke about fucking her, and when Mercedes realizes what's happened (a grown woman has paid a kid for sex), she walks over and slaps the shit out of said cougar. When Puck asks her what the hell she's doing, Mercedes gives it to him straight, telling him she'll do whatever the hell she wants to her boyfriend's rapist. An uncomfortable and painful conversation happens later that night and Mercedes takes care of her man.

Mercedes Jones DOES NOT need taking care of.

She has been surrounded by strong women of all colors and sizes her whole life. She was raised to be a bold woman who always acted like a lady but when it came to hoes pushing themselves all over _her_ man, she put the ladylike part of herself on the back-burner and had no qualms against taking a bitch to the carpet if need be. Okay, so maybe her first thoughts to yet another woman in her mid to late 30s, early 40s looking at her boyfriend, Puck, was over the top, but then he said what he said and she didn't think, she just did.

They were leaving Breadsticks after a very successful and romantic date when the woman who had been staring at Puck the whole night beckoned him over with one finger. She was a Latina woman in her late 30s with long ebony hair, her make-up done perfectly. She was surrounded by flustered women in their 40s, and they were looking at Puck hungrily like he was fruit ripe for the picking. Mercedes had seen the woman around before, though they weren't properly acquainted. She was Santana's mom and she was calling Puck over. Puck gave her a gesture of dismissal and she and the other women pouted in response. Damn, Mercedes could see where Santana got her looks from. The woman was gorgeous but that didn't excuse her. Mercedes had had to beat Santana off Puck with a bat and ultimately Santana decided to back off choosing instead to pursue a relationship with Quinn after a failed relationship with Brittany and Finn. She wasn't looking to take on another generation of Lopez but she would if she had to.

Puck must've noticed his girlfriend sizing the woman up.

"Hey, don't worry about her. I’ve known her for years. She doesn't bite, not too hard at least. Besides, she tips crazy good if you do what she likes. Took a while but I eventually got the hang of it. I see she brought more customers but it's whatever, I'm with my girl." He said nonchalantly, kissing her cheek. At first Mercedes thought he was just telling her one of his crude jokes and if it were a couple months ago she wouldn't give it a second thought but in their time together if there's one thing she's learned, it's that he hides things that hurt him behind jokes and crudeness.

It's at this time that two things flash in Mercedes' head.

One: this woman has paid her boyfriend for sex.

Two: this woman is well in her 30s going on 40s and her boyfriend is 17. Though the age of consent in the not-so-great state of Ohio was 16, Mercedes was not okay with this.

She stared blankly at Puck for three seconds before escaping his embrace and making a beeline for the women.

"Mercedes?" He called. Her pace didn't slow down and he had to jog to get in front of her to cut her off.

"What are you doing?"

"Puck, you're my boyfriend and I love you so I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire. You need to move." She pushed him aside and he knew better than to get in her way. He hung back running his hands through his mohawk. Mercedes tapped the woman's shoulder. She turned, her wide smile dimming at the sight of Mercedes. She looked her up and down in distaste. Now Mercedes knew where Santana got her attitude from.

"May I help you?" She asked. Mercedes smiled sweetly. The woman really was beautiful, it was a shame she was about to destroy her face.

"Yes." Then she frowned and proceeded to bitch slap the woman into yesteryear. She stumbled back into the other women.

"No." She heard Puck gasp behind her.

"What the hell? Who do you think you are?"

"My name is Mercedes Jones and I'm a friend of your daughter's. She's always talking about Lima Heights Adjacent so let me talk in a language you'll understand." She pointed to Puck, who was frozen in shock.

"You see that? That is mine. I owns that. I'm the only one who can get up on that and if I hear about any of you future geriatric patients pushing your sandbags in his grill, I will cut all of you. Furthermore Ms. Lopez, you should be ashamed of yourself. Not only are you a disgrace as a female but you're a disgrace as a mother. At first I was wondering what mother would let her 17-year-old get a boob job for her birthday but now it makes much more sense and I thank heavens that Santana has friends who will make sure she doesn't end up street-walking like you. As for you women, don't let me catch you talking to my boyfriend because I will end you." And with that she left the women shocked and embarrassed, and dragged a still frozen Puck to his truck. He snapped out of it long enough to peel out of the driveway. Puck heard Mercedes mumble something about hating when clingy hoes make her act unladylike before he snapped out of his stupor.

"What the hell was that?" He ground out through his anger.

"Oh hell to the no, you are not angry at me."

"Yeah, I sorta am. Why would you do something like that, do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?"

"And I care? Some bitch raped my boyfriend and what? You expect me not to react? Look, I know you're not used to being in a relationship but this isn't a give take situation. I know your ego tells you that you're supposed to be the one protecting me but you are my boyfriend and I'm gonna protect you the same way you would protect me."

"I wasn't raped and I don't need protecting." Mercedes didn't comment on how wrong he was as he pulled up to her house. She leaned in to kiss him but he turned his head causing her to swallow down her anger at _his_ anger with a sigh.

"My parents are away, can you come in? You know I hate being in this house alone." He wordlessly got out of his truck and she quickly followed. They walked into the dark house, not bothering to turn on the lights.

"I'm gonna go change." He nodded though she didn't see it. He went into the living room and took off his jacket before plopping onto the couch tiredly.

This was what Puck was dreading. He knew he had to talk to her eventually but he thought if he ignored the looks he got from the women around town, thought that if she wouldn't take his jokes seriously, thought if she never blew her top the whole conversation could easily be avoided except he was kidding himself. He knew Mercedes wouldn't ignore the looks for much longer, he knew that at some point she'd started looking deeper into his jokes, and he sure knew that she would eventually let out a can of whoop ass on some poor cougar's face.

Mercedes on the other hand was upstairs in the shower strategizing how to go about bringing up this conversation. She can't just out and say

_'Did you say she didn't rape you, because you're a…'_

She didn't want to even think the word. She could tell he had demons in his closet and this was just the tip of the iceberg. She didn't want to pressure him and lose him. She loved him and call her crazy, even if he was her first boyfriend, she could see herself living forever with this guy, but she wanted to help him, whether it be by bitch slapping every cougar that looked his way or talking with him about his past, she wanted to do this and she would.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there contemplating having this conversation with her when she came back, smelling like her cherry blossom lotion and wearing her favorite purple pajamas. She sat down next to him and enveloped her hands around his waist. He cuddled with her on the couch for a while, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"If I ask you a question will answer truthfully?" She asked.

"Yeah, I will."

"Are you a prostitute?" 

 

_Well so much for tact._  Mercedes thought to herself.

 

It was silent for a while, until he finally whispered.

"Yeah." She could hear the tears he was forcing down in his voice. She cuddled closer to him, and he held her closer. She kissed his face wiping any runaway tears away.

"Alright, I mean it's not okay but alright." She answered.

"Aren't you gonna ask why? Or push me away, or be disgusted?"

"It's up to you if you wanna tell me. And I love you, so no I'm not gonna push you away and be disgusted because I know you and if you had to resort to that for money it must be something serious."

"My mom isn't the best mom in the world, you know that. She's more interested in the next person's bed she's gonna be in than what me and Sarah are gonna eat or the bills that pile up or the fact that Sarah needs new shoes. At first it was just one woman whose pool I cleaned. She was crying and hurt her husband had filed for a divorce, Ms. Lopez, she tipped me extra and soon she told other women and I kinda did stuff for them too. It got extra money in the house so I could get more bills paid faster, and that helped a lot. Summer ended and I didn't have the pool business as an excuse anymore so we started falling behind on bills. My mom must've been gossiping with Ms. Lopez about how she managed to keep all her bills paid on her horrible salary. She told my mom how she had Santana stripping and turning tricks. My mom had heard stories from the neighborhood women about what I did that made them tip me extra and she said that from now on I was gonna be going out with Santana. Her mom wanted her to have a sort of bodyguard in case things got too intense." He paused shifting uncomfortably and so she could absorb that information they laid back on the couch so Mercedes was lying on top of Puck, her head resting on his chest, his arms still holding her close.

"Um, that's how, me and Santana met. I mean we were aware of each other in school, and we both didn't want to be doing what we were but we still did for our younger siblings. Soon we started having sex together, we wanted to feel like we had some sort of control over our own bodies, even if our mothers told us differently. We pretended to be a couple in school, so people wouldn't question if they saw us together late at night. Quinn was a failed experiment to see if I could regain some sort of my innocence through her. At that point I had already accepted that me trying to stop doing what I was doing was selfish of me. Sarah needed that money, she needed the bills to be paid and she needed food and clothes and shoes, that's all I really cared about. I was her only parent anyway, my mom didn't care and I needed to raise Sarah as best I could." He paused again when he realized she was crying.

"You okay? I can stop."

"No, I'm okay, I'm listening." She sniffled and wiped her tears, closing her eyes and focusing on his words.

"Then Quinn turned up pregnant and doing things that just managed to get me and Sarah by wasn't enough anymore. I had to get another job, I started streetwalking and turning tricks. Quinn's medical bills were piling up and her mom was gonna find out, and Finn wouldn't man up so I had to help her out. I know it's horrible but I was so happy when he got a job and I didn't have to help her anymore, keeping up that double life was killing me. Then Rachel told Finn the truth and Quinn moved in and I had to start supporting her and Beth, coupled with everything I was doing for Sarah and then I just had to slash Vocal Adrenaline's tires which meant I had to get a day job, and that in the middle of school and sneaking out at night without disturbing Quinn and being her Finn backup I couldn't… I collapsed somewhere or other and Santana had to take me to this free clinic. I think that was the first time I prayed about my whole situation and then the next day Quinn told me she was moving in with you and I breathed the biggest sigh of relief I have in my whole life. I cared for Quinn but I couldn't deal with the stress she added. I loved Beth and I wanted to keep her but I know I made the best decision for her. What would her life be like with a mom who was more concerned with getting her popularity back and a father who was barely home because he was out stripping and turning tricks? I feel sorry she even shares my genes."

"And I'm gonna stop you right there. Look at me Noah." He complied she could see the tears shining in his eyes in the moonlight.

"You are a beautiful human being." He snorted and looked down, but she reconnected their eyes by holding his chin and moving his head back up.

"You are the best first boyfriend I could ever ask for. No one is perfect and so you have some demons in your closet but everyone does. The difference for you is you have someone here for you who loves you with all her heart. It's this girl if you didn't guess." She said pointing her thumbs towards herself. He chuckled a little and she stroked his cheek.

"I love you so much, and I am gonna be here for you. I'm gonna help you if that's what you want?"

"I do want help but Sarah—"

"Your mom's barely home anyway, so you and Sarah can move in here."

"Mercedes—",

"What? My mom loves you and my dad hasn't shot you yet. My mom misses having babies in the house, she's gonna immediately attach herself to Sarah, and Sarah needs stability and a family. We can provide that for you and her. Please just say yes, I'm sure my parents will agree and they definitely will make sure you don't have to go back on the streets, just please."

"You had me at your dad hasn't shot me yet." He joked, she smiled and kissed him.

"I love you Mercedes Jones, I really do."

"I love you too."

And with that declaration they fell asleep.

 

 

**EPILOGUE (OF SORTS):**

The next day at school Mercedes was in the choir room sitting when Santana walked up to her.

"So I hear you bitch slapped Veronica yesterday."

"Who? Oh, your mom. Yeah, sorry about that." Mercedes said. Santana just looked confused.

"Sorry for what? I was just gonna thank you for having the nerve to do what I never could."

"Puck told me about you two's moms. I just, if you ever need anything, my house is always open. I don't want you still on the streets." Santana could see the genuine worry in her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm not on the streets anymore. I don't even live in LHA anymore. After my little brother, Tyler, told mi abuela about what our mom had me doing one night when I got beat up by some dude over the summer, mi abuela took us away from our mom, and it's better for me because my grandmother lives three houses away from Brittany so I have her there for support and Quinn swings by all the time if I need comfort or something."

"Good. I just wouldn't feel right if I knew you were out there alone because of your horrible mother."

"You focus on Puck, he's gonna need help."

"I'm gonna be there for him no matter what." Santana smiled and then went back over to Quinn, Brittany and Artie.

Mercedes was serious she'd help her man through whatever post-traumatic stress he'd go through, because he was hers, she was his and she loved him regardless of his sordid past.

 


End file.
